Slipped Away
by dragonnerd445
Summary: Lily's marriage is falling apart, but is she as innocent as she claims in the matter? Voldemort has a mysterious connection to her. And after eleven years with the Dursley's, how will Snape cope with the child? AU Severitus DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Slipped Away **

_Disclaimer: Characters c/o JK Rowling (HP)_

"Why James,…why?'

Lily stood in utter shock and silence, staring at the man she thought had been her loving and devoted husband. Loving and devoted. The understatement of the year. This wasn't the first time anonymous, sneaky letters were delivered to the house. For a while she'd suspected something was up. Now, her suspicions were all but confirmed. Her green eyes flared in anger harshly as she held up the letter. A letter she'd been holding in a death grip for the past thirty minutes.

"Tell me James. Who is she? Tell me right now."

James' face seemed to be expressionless as he stared blankly at the floor. Sitting on the couch for so long was starting to hurt his back, but he knew better to stay put. Never had he seen Lily this upset before. Moving even the slightest would be cause for his demise. Hearing his wife's words he slowly raised his head. Eyes seemed to hold a faint glimmer of emotion. One might say it was regret…regret for getting caught.

True, he had been caught and nothing he could say would make the situation any better.

"Lily, all I can say is that I'm sorry."

The words caused white-hot fury to form up in Lily's soul. In a fit of anger she tore up the letter and threw the shreds in his face. She then stomped off towards the bedroom and slammed the door.

~**~

Emotion poured from Lily like crazy. For what seemed like hours she sobbed to herself. Head buried into her pillow, the only solace she could find in that moment. Memories came and went so fast they sent her head spinning. Memories of the time they'd spent in the past before they were married. How they'd talk of how bright and wonderful their future would be. Words so promising. Thinking back, those words now seemed like venom seeping from a deadly snake's mouth. How could she have been so foolish to believe his words?

They'd been married for almost two years now . If things were this bad after two years, how bad would they get after five, ten, twenty? Who's to say she would even still _be_ married after twenty years?

_Why should you be worried about that? Quit acting like you're the victim in all this. You're just as guilty as he._

A small voice whispered in her ear, most likely her conscience. She snapped her eyes shut and willed the voice to leave. A small whimpering sound escaped her as she did so.

"That situation was different…different. Stop, just stop!"

Slowly she relaxed and opened her eyes.

As if this seemed to trigger something, her eye caught the time on the wall. It read 11:00 PM

A faint shock ran through her. She'd been in this room for over three hours now. Sitting up she stretched and headed for the bedroom door. James was probably asleep on the couch by now.

Her judgment proved correct. James was snoozing quietly on the worn-out sofa. A house warming gift from her sister Petunia. Or as Petunia liked to call it a 'get out of here and never speak to me again' gift. Not feeling sleepy in the slightest, Lily unlocked the front door and trotted out towards the night.

The cool night air really seemed to do wonders for her ill mood. Slowly after a few minutes the welcoming breeze calmed her frazzle nerves. But only a bit. She was still highly angered by James' treachery and sneaking around. Still, in the pit of all these swirling mixed up emotions, was the feeling that she didn't know what to do anymore. She'd tried everything to make her husband not stray. At first it seemed to help, but in the end he always went back to whatever floozy he was chasing.

She stamped her foot in fury. Why was he always like this? Was this how men in the Wizarding world behaved? Sure she knew that men in her world were like this as well, but still the thought truly upset her.

Keeping her head down she continued her quite, yet swift, walk down the sidewalk. Lamps and signs from various stores cast out a welcoming glow, but she ignored them lost in her own thoughts.

Suddenly, she collided with a solid form causing her to almost go off balance. Staggering, she caught herself before she made a rather embarrassing fall. As she righted herself she realized why she'd collided with the figure. It was wearing a solid black, hooded cloak.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" , the figure growled.

By it's voice it was male. The unknown figure turned to strike the person who dared to bang into him, but stopped when he noticed it was a female.

"Oh, sorry about that miss." his voice was that of a person trying to sound friendly, but deep down you still heard their malice and ill-intentions. It was also very gravely and intimidating. Lily was extremely cautious. She was out, alone at night and she foolishly had forgotten her wand. With this intimidating man standing before her, she knew she had to be extra careful.

"No harm done, I trust?'

His lips curled into a sickly sweet smile. It made her stomach turn. She had to fight hard not to show this man her fear. And hard it was. He loomed over her in height and had dirty grey hair and whiskers on his chin. His appearance alone was enough to terrify anybody. His eyes were was struck her the most. Wolves eyes they seemed like. They peered eerily through the darkness of his hood.

He was gazing at her like a ravenous dog almost. Suddenly, he reached forward like lightening, snatching her arm up in his crushing grip. He then jerked her towards him, that same sickly sweet grin on his face.

"You sure are pretty, but you already know that… don'tcha sweetheart?" He purred softly in her ear while caressing her cheek with his bristly beard.

Lily's heart was pounding in her chest. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as she stared, not registering anything. It was like someone pressed 'mute' She heard nothing in her fear.

She knew she'd have to do something _fast_ or the worst would happen to her.

Acting purely on instinct, she grabbed hold of one of his arms and bit into him hard. She bore down as hard as she could, she'd bring blood if she had to.

A tortured wail from her assailant told her she'd succeeded. Barely the bone-crushing grip on her arm was loosened. Enough for her to elbow him in the chest. This didn't knock him out, but it startled him enough for her to bolt away.

As the figure watched his prey escape him, a smirk formed on his lips, revealing wolf-like fangs. He then turned and walked the other direction. Something told him this wouldn't be the last time they'd cross paths.

Lily ran and ran for what seemed like an eternity. She only stopped when her lungs screamed for air. Franticly she looked around, trying to see if her attacker followed. She saw only darkness. After a few minutes of only the sidewalk and random houses being her only audience, she decided that he hadn't followed and turned to continue walking.

It took her mind a while to process what had occurred. The realization came to her that she shouldn't have been surprised. There had been talk of strange folks wandering about. Quite talk, but talk nonetheless. Now she felt more foolish then ever for leaving the house at night. As she pondered these feelings, her surroundings began to look a little more familiar.

Slowly, she realized where she was and coincidentally, it was exactly where she'd wanted to go. An old run-down house sat on top of a grassy hill. It was the only house on that particular space of land. Nobody could miss it.

Aching and weary, she trudged as quickly as she could towards it. It only took three and a half knocks for somebody to answer. The door creaked open barely an inch. An eerie shadow loomed inside.

"Severus…."


	2. Chapter 2

**Slipped Away**

Chapter Two

_Disclaimer: Characters © JK Rowling (HP)_

[A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters! I've been busy lately and my muse sort of died on me for a while *shame* reviews and critiques are welcome. Anything to help me improve my writing ability. Thanks.]

The room was lit faintly by a single candle resting quietly on a side table in the room. The furnishings where extremely bare, which knowing Snape, this didn't surprise Lily in the least. He'd never been one to have a lot of things around.

Snape had quietly allowed her in and was now setting across from her in a quite collected manner. Yet his eyes told another story. They seemed to peer directly into her soul. A questioning stare. Lily fidgeted a little while trying to come up with a reason why she'd appeared at such an unreasonable hour on his doorstep. Anything, anything would be a better explanation then the hard truth that her once loving husband was now just a common cheater. Perhaps her reasoning for running from this truth was the mere fact that…she herself wasn't ready to face it.

Severus sat collectedly in the threadbare armchair while he waited for Lily to speak. Something was bothering her, that was for sure. Something that, more then likely, had to do with that _Potter _fellow. Just the act of allowing his name to even enter his mind was enough to make Snape shudder in disgust. All the more reason for his contempt was the fact that James had ended up marrying her. Snape knew that this feeling really shouldn't have been bothering him anymore but yet, it was still. It's not like he himself had ever pondered the thought of what would've happened if Lily had married him instead. One thing's for sure…if she had've, she wouldn't dare be as upset as she clearly appeared to be now.

All these thoughts were quickly banished from his mind as Lily finally began to speak. He listened intently.

"I'm sorry for coming over at such a late hour." A glance at the clock said it was past midnight.

"But I just felt like I had no one else to speak with about this." She bit her lip nervously as she spoke. Eyes looking everywhere else expect towards the figure setting before her.

"No need to apologize. If anything's made you upset, anything, you can tell me. After all, I've been your friend longer then you've been married."

His words stung slightly. She wasn't sure if he was attacking James or not with that sentence. Probably he was, knowing how far back their hatred for one another went. How could she blame him? James did put him through torment almost everyday of their schooldays at Hogwarts.

Thinking back she felt shame on what James and his cronies had put her old friend through.

"I just want to get this out of the way right now before you continue. You coming here alone, at night no less was extremely foolish. And I see that you didn't at least prepare yourself with a wand. With the dangers lurking about now was a dangerous move on your part."

His words shattered her train of thought only to bring her around to feeling defensive. First he was asking what was wrong, and now he was belittling her like a child. Sure his thoughts were probably in the right place, but still the sudden switch surprised her. She thought that he could be trying to figure out why she'd come alone. Her mouth instantly went dry.

As if on cue, Snape continued.

"Now that I think of it, why did you come alone in the first place? Surely if James cared about you he would've at least accompanied you here. Or…did you two have some sort of argument before you arrived?"

The more he spoke the more Lily realized that there was no way she was going to get out of the situation without bringing up James. It was something she dreaded because she knew Snape's seething anger would no doubt show itself.

Not delaying the inevitable any longer she spoke.

"Well, yes we did actually have a fight before I came here. Otherwise James would've followed me here. And as for me not carrying a wand, mere foolishness on my part. I was in such a state of anger I forgot it. That's all."

As she continued she stared at the floor. Shame filling her as more words came out.

"James and I have….been having issues the past few months. I know you probably don't wish to hear them but…I found out recently he's been cheating on me."

Her face was red with embarrassment.

Snape's cold dark eyes were expressionless as he spoke.

"Surely you would've know this would occur. You knew of his promiscuous attitude way before you two even got married."

Snape chose not to bring himself up into the matter, but he felt that Lily would get the hint anyway.

"I know, I know all that!" she snapped, anger now replacing her shame. "But it's not just that. I thought he would change after we got together. Things were fine for a while but now it's all gone to hell."

Not able to take it anymore, Lily finally allowed the tears she'd been holding in for so long to flow. It did nothing to ease her pain, though.

"And…and to add on top of that…I think I'm pregnant…" she choked out through her tears. Now the main reason why Lily had been so emotional and unreasonable became clear to Snape.

To say that Snape was angry at this was an understatement. It was bad enough that Lily left him for his most hated enemy James, but the possibility that she could be carrying his _child was too much to bear. However, he managed to keep a steady head while in her presence. _

_The only betrayal was a slight chewing of the inside of his mouth. _

"_Lily, has James ever made a threat to you? That he'd harm you in any way?" A flicker of disgust passed over his eyes as he said the name. _

_Lily managed to choke back a sob in response. _

"_No, of course not he'd never harm me. How dare you suggest such a thing." _

_Snape couldn't repress a small smirk. _

"_He may not harm you physically but he apparently has no qualms of harming you emotionally it seems." he said softly. _

_Lily had no comeback for his words this time. He spoke the truth. It may not be physical pain, but emotional pain was sometimes worse. _

_Snape glanced at the clock on the wall which told him it was almost two in the morning. It didn't surprise him that he was still wide awake. He'd often had issues with insomnia. _

"_Since it's past midnight I suggest it would be safer on your part if you stayed here for the night." He gestured toward the couch. "You can sleep there as my bed only fits one person." "Unless you wish me to walk you back to your house. Letting you leave without any protection or supervision is something I will not allow." He was standing now waiting carefully for her response. _

"_No, you're right. Leaving now would be a foolish thing to do. I'll just bed down on the couch tonight and tomorrow you can take me back home." _

_With a wave of his wand the couch was already made up for a comfortable night's sleep. With that he bid her good night and turned to go to his own bedroom. _

_As Lily lay down something else kept nagging her in the back of her mind. _

"_Sev…?" she asked quietly in the darkness. (Snape had already turned off the light.) _

"_Yes?" he flinched slightly at hearing the old nickname Lily had given him used once more. It brought with it bad memories and pain. Thankfully the light was out or Lily would've clearly seen tears stinging his eyes. _

"_When you take me home in the morning, please try not to bite James' head off"_

_She said sleepily. The events that occurred were slowly catching up with her making her dead tired. _

"_I'll try…" was Snape's response. But as he turned to go to bed, he felt that he wouldn't be able to stop himself when he saw the slimy git. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Slipped Away**

_Disclaimer: Characters © JK Rowling (HP) _

[Author's Note: Finally time for chapter three! XD Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. ^_^ ]

The sun was shining bright and the winds reduced to a calm gentle breeze that morning as the two of them walked quietly back toward Lily's house. The overall morning seemed to progress fine, Lily had noticed. In fact, she seemed to feel a bit more cheerful then she usually did when starting the day with James.

This had struck her as, not odd, but a bit weird. But pretty soon that feeling too was brushed away as Snape held true to his word to walk her back home. Why should she had felt odd about it? After all, they _were_ good friends in their childhood/teenage years. Why would it be odd that they felt comfortable around one another?

When thinking back on this the reason _why _it'd felt weird came rushing back to her. She'd broken up their friendship due to Snape referring to her as…well, she didn't think she could bring herself to utter it. _Mudblood. _

But he did try to apologize did he not? That faint little voice whispered in her ear. Apologize…it was more like he _groveled _to her.

Waves of shame now flooded her. Thinking back on this scenario she'd seen just how Snape had felt about her. But she was too blind to see it. Pushing him away for such scoundrels as James…it made her regret even marrying him in the first place.

Still…if she hadn't she wouldn't be carrying her child right now. Even if her feeling towards the father were unpleasant, that didn't mean she hated the child growing inside her. No, not at all.

Lily had noticed that Snape had been more quit then usual on this walk. And he seemed to be a tad bit more anxious then she remembered him to be.

She guessed he had reason to be as memories of her attacker floated back into her mind. She shuddered slightly as she still remembered his smell…like a wolf. Upon remembering this, she too began keeping a closer watch on her surroundings.

Also, the thought came to her that maybe she should mention this to Snape. But then perhaps that would just make him even more upset of her coming out alone. She'd planned to keep it to herself, but as they came closer and closer to where the incident occurred, a light whimper escaped her mouth. It set him off.

~**~

"What's the matter?" He asked quietly as they continued their pace. His cold eyes kept peering at the strangers passing by. He seemed to be eyeing them each with a penetrating glare. As he turned back to Lily, he noticed instantly something was bothering her more then just James. Her frame was tense and shaking slightly. Not to mention the, almost, frightened sound that had just escaped her.

Something else had happened then her fight with James. Something that probably occurred out on these dark streets. These thoughts made him almost panic, but for her sake, he remained calm…at least on the surface.

He looked at her in the eyes and asked, once again, more softly. "Lily….what happened?"

"Tell me. Now." His voice had a slight edge of urgency mixed with harshness. She knew that beating around the bush wouldn't work this time. So out it came. Slow and shaky. But out it came the same.

"W-well…while I was walking towards your house last night…I bumped into somebody. Somebody I didn't know."

At this Snape raised an eyebrow slightly. His eyes peering closely.

"He-At least I think it was a man…he seemed more like…a beast. A wolf if you will."

The more she spoke, the shakier her voice got.

" He…oh Sev he was soo creepy. At first he acted nice. But then he got real harsh with me. Grabbed my arm, tried to drag me with him. I think he wanted to…."

She fought back tears as she continued.

"I fought him off thank Sir Godric. But he could still be around. I don't think he'll try anything with you here, though."

As soon as she finished, Snape asked, "Did you get a good look at this fellow? What did he look like?" His words were curt and to the point.

Snape's uneasiness had made Lily all the more nervous. Perhaps he hadn't realized it himself. But she kept that to herself.

"Well, like I said he looked like a beast. His eyes were yellow. Wolf's eyes. And he had dirty shaggy grey hair. And from what I could tell claw-like fingernails.

He also had a rough scratchy beard. Not grown in yet. I know this because he (her voice had grown shuddering and quite) rubbed his cheek against mine"

Seeing the intense embarrassment and shame, Snape didn't bother with any further questions. But based on her description, he already had a faint idea as to who Lily had ran into. And the realization didn't cause him any relief at all.

~**~

When they finally arrived at Lily's house, it didn't do well to ease either of them. Lily for the thought that her husband and Snape were going to tear one another's heads off, and Snape for the resentment and raging anger that threatened to explode at the sheer thought of even SEEING him. For Lily's sake though, he held strong as James opened the door.

He'd invited Snape in of curse. Though, this was probably more of a courteous move then of any real wanting him in his house. Only to thank him for bringing is wife back. That's all that was for. Snape knew good and well, that if he'd shown up any other time, he'd likely have had the door slammed in his face. Not that he wanted to be in _Potter's _house anyway. No, he'd rather be force fed poison. That would be a far more lovely experience then what he was feeling now.

Snape took note that Lily didn't say a thing to James as she'd came in through the door. James had tried to speak to her, but he would've gotten more responses from a wall.

James had then turned to 'thank' Snape for bringing her back safely. But the forced expression and voice of his thanks really hit home that James wanted as little to do with Snape as possible.

Snape, however, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to stab at James a little couldn't resist such as he'd stood in the doorway, James anxiously awaiting his leave.

"You know, _Potter _I just felt that I should let you know that Lily had come to my house due to a little…argument you two had. Seeing her distress really had made me ponder if perhaps you'd made some sort of threat to her. Emotionally? Maybe perhaps physical? But then again, knowing how much you love her, you wouldn't dare harm her in such a manner would you?"

The sneer on Snape's face was enough for James to want to slaughter him. How dare he suggest that he hit or beat his wife! The snaky bastard!

James replied in a calm manner, but the shakiness of his voice clearly showed the betrayal. It made Snape all giddy inside to know he was making his hated rival squirm with anger.

"First of all, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't use my last name in such a way. Lily is married to me now so when you use my last name in such a way, you're also referring to her. So stop it.

Second, (he lowered his voice) how _dare _you suggest that I'd ever harm my wife? I love her, do you understand me? I'd never do any physical harm to her. I'd sooner use the killing curse on _myself." _

_As much as that image would have pleased Snape, he was quick to fire back._

"_Oh no you see, Lily will never be a Potter to me, so when I use your name in that manner as you say, I am referring to you and you only. And no, you're indeed correct. You wouldn't harm her physically would you? No, you're more of the emotional type." _

_His voice dripped with intense coldness with those words. _

_Snape had turned to leave, but one final thought had occurred to him. It was brought up by what Lily had revealed to him on their walk back. _

"_Oh, and I'm sure you won't be in the least bit pleased to now that while walking to my house, alone mind you, that means without you, Lily revealed to me that some unknown assailant had tried to rape her. _

_With this knowledge I'm sure you won't be near as foolish to let Lily leave y herself at night with no form of protection. What with the dangers that are lurking about these days with 'You-Know Who's' underground activity." _

_At these words James didn't know whether to punch Snape or punch him twice. All he managed to get out was, _

"_Yeah, well, you'd know all about the dangers lurking about out there, wouldn't you?" _

_He slammed the door in Snape's face. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

_A/N: First off, I want to give a massive thank you to everyone who hung in there and stuck by this story. I promised I wasn't going to abandon this one, I just needed time away from it to get inspired. Needless to say that inspiration finally came. Feedback is greatly appreciated as always. _

Snape_, _seeing that he was no longer needed after the door was slammed in his face by James, had turned heel and had calmly walked down the steps. As he headed towards the exit of Godric's Hollow he couldn't help but flash the Potter house one finale glance before grasping the wooden gate with his hand to head onto the accompanying sidewalk.

He had an odd feeling about that house…about Godric's Hollow entirely. It was as if the entire area seemed to be coated with some form of misery or foreshadowing of despair. Everything had seemed…so downtrodden, like it was attempting to cry out it's own anguish. Cry out for it's own impending doom…

Still, Snape tried as best he could to quell these disturbing thoughts. He had more then enough to worry about at the moment and adding all this certainly wasn't going to help. His black heavy coat billowed around his feet in the faint breeze. It drug the ground ever so slightly. It may've been a bit too big for him, but it got the job done in terms of warmth from extremely harsh bone-chilling weather…and also in other cases. Which is what it was coming in handy for now.

He hunched over slightly as he quietly passed other people. He made sure never to make more eye contact then was absolutely needed. When he did it was usually a piercing glare. That gave an onlookers the message right away. But his overgrown bat image was more then enough to get others to avoid his presence. In a way, he liked it better this way. That way he could be alone with his thoughts and not be pestered by anyone flanking his side jabbering on about idiotic subjects.

He sighed. Still, the only person who was ever an exception to this rule was Lily. Her company never really did anything to bother him. If anything her presence always seemed to drag him away from his usual depressing moods and make him feel happy…be it only for a little while.

Nobody else had ever had the ability to do that for him. Not that that really mattered to him. All the others had always assumed that he was a weirdo or strange. And their company almost always meant misery or pain for him.

He shook his head at these pestering thoughts and scoffed slightly. It was best for him not to dwell on these thoughts any longer. The more James or his past was brought up, the more it clouded his mind and judgment. His head needed to be clear, not muddled with worries about past rivalries or childhood pain. Such foolish thinking!

He slowly brought his head up from it's hunched position and slowly took in a breathe of fresh air. This helped steady his mind just a bit. To be honest Snape couldn't remember exactly when he'd left his old home for _anything_. He never really felt any desire to leave it when he thought about it. Everything he needed was right there in his home. And if he needed any more potion ingredients they were all there packed away in jars in a few of the spare rooms that's only function besides housing them was collecting dust.

He always felt it more calming to be by himself. After all, what use did being around other people have? Nothing foolish needs in his mind. Always clouded by the influences of others. He'd learned his lesson long ago about so carelessly trusting others.

Twitching slightly at the thought, Snape suddenly came to a stop to stretch and rest his legs for a bit. Deciding a lean up against a brick wall of a wizarding coffee shop, he sighed and let his eyes wander about once more. Relishing in the silence of a typically noisy area of town.

'_Hmm…it seems there's not a lot of people around this area today…strange.' _

He thought to himself. And strange it was. Now that he thought about it this whole area should be teeming with life. Every corner filled with the hustle and bustle of men women and children chattering nosily and heading about their day. But today…there was hardly _any_ noise around. Any sign of life in this area. Turning his head to get a better look at the coffee shop, he was stunned to see a 'closed' sign labeling it's status on the doorway.

"That's peculiar." he softly muttered to himself.

It slowly came to him that he'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he'd hardly noticed the unusual scarce amount of people in this area. So very strange. He couldn't help but ponder why it seemed so lifeless. Was today some sort of holiday he'd missed? Not that he cared or anything. He was often known to skip holidays altogether, never giving them a second glance.

Taking a couple of steps away from the brick wall his dark eyes scanned the area, trying to see if he missed any sort of decorations or anything labeling a holiday of any kind.

There was nothing.

While pondering all this his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by low soft voices. From how it sounded it seemed there were more then two. One sounded female. Steadying his breathe, Snape crept as close to the edge of the corner that he could without being given away. Straining his ears he tried desperately to determine what they were saying, but they were either too far away, or their voices were just too low to be able to reach his ears in a clear effective manner.

As their voices quieted, Snape cursed himself on the inside. He had a sudden growing suspicion as to what had been going on around here. And if his thoughts proved correct, it had something to do with those whispering figures.

Not wanting to bring any suspicion on his part, Snape continued to stroll down the sidewalk in a casual manner. He did this for a couple of reasons. One was to not make the figures suspect anyone had been eavesdropping, and the other was for him to attempt, as casual as it may be, to at least get a look at one of them.

He had a sneaking suspicion one of them was the one that had attempted to harm Lily the other night. If this proved true, things did not look well for the rest of them.

Attempting to steady his rapid heartbeat, Snape made his presence known to the others in the dark alleyway as he walked on by it. At first they didn't see anything too wrong with this as they kept huddled up with one another in a small circle they'd formed. Standing there like three stone statues that's only betrayal was a flicker of a robe every once and a while due to a twitch of a foot or hand. As he continued walking, Snape quickly stole a glance at the three, and almost instantly he knew what they were. His first instinct was to flee, to rid himself of their presence altogether, but he forced himself to remain. He wasn't going to leave until he made sure if this one person was in that group.

As if on cue at the thought one of the hooded figures slowly turned it's gaze towards the lonely figure of Snape. It's face was almost completely in shadow, save for a few glints from what light was allowed into the dark alleyway.

As Snape's vision slowly cleared and got used to the harsh darkness of the small alley, he had to steady himself not to let out a small gasping cry. There standing mere feet from him was a figure with yellow tinted eyes. The eyes of a beast. The figure flashed Snape a wide dirty grin from the shadows, along with a light chuckle that seemed to carry across the alleyway with ease. It made him shudder.

Not waiting around any longer to see what these three did, Snape hurried on away from that desolate area as fast as he could without causing any unwanted attention to himself.

As he hurried along his mind began to race once more. His heart thudded in a heavy manner in his chest. It was almost certain who those people were, and even more certain who that creature was that had attacked Lily last night.

And what he meant spelled doom for Lily and everyone else involved with her.

.

.

.

.

Fenrir Greyback….

After slamming the door in his old rival's face and letting out a sigh of disgust, he then turned to Lily to find her setting on the couch. Arms folded across her chest and legs crossed. Her expression was one of distrust and annoyance.

"Well…was that really necessary? Slamming the door in his face like that?"

Her eyes were drawn down into almost a glare. Her foot was kicking slightly in an agitated manner. At that question James' expression turned to one of utter shock. He threw his hands up in the air, which helped display his annoyance.

"Wh- was what necessary? Slamming the door in his face, yes I believe it was Lily." He walked swiftly across the room before turning suddenly to plant himself onto the couch next to her. His hands dangled in-between his legs as he rested his arms on his thighs.

He eyed Lily with a close gaze. His mouth fidgeting as he thought how he would handle the situation as to what that that- _git_ had said to him.

Letting out a breath slowly he let himself start talking.

"Lily…Do you know what he just said to me out there? He said, well, more like implied rather, that I'd harmed you prior to you going over to his house last night."

James straightened up slightly as he continued speaking. His voice low and calm.

"More so to the fact, why did you leave in the middle of the night like that? That was extremely dangerous and foolish of you. Don't you know how many dangers there are-"

At these words James was suddenly cut off.

"Yes I do know that James Potter!"

She'd brought herself up a little and was now pointing to herself as she enunciated her words. Her tone was one of seething, scathing rage. She eyed him with a death glare. Out of all the things he'd done this was one of the worst. First he cheated on her and now he was treating her like a small child in need of constant care. Well, she was not about that let _that happen. Not then, and certainly not now. _

"_And I for one don't appreciate you of all people telling me such things. As if I didn't know it myself. Did it ever occur to you that if I hadn't caught you with those letters from a no-good hussy that this never would've happened?" _

_She scoffed and turned her head away. Arms still crossed foot still tapping. _

_But her voice had dropped some of it's anger. It now held a tone of tiredness to it. _

"_At least he had the decency to walk me back, you know? For that you should be grateful, instead of trying to start something up with him again. This petty rivalry between you two…shouldn't it have already ended?" _

_At her words James dropped his head and sighed slowly. Perhaps she was right. The slimy git had walked her home and made sure she was safe. It seemed to was much too quick to want to lash out at him again. Old habits died hard he supposed. _

"_I guess you are right Lily. I was too quick to jump on him. I am thankful that he got you home safely, I'll thank him for that at least." _

_Lily's posture relaxed slightly and she sighed to herself. It was happening again, what with the sudden mood swings and her becoming tired after doing so little. Lifting a hand to wipe it across her face she turned towards James to find his expression one of confusion now. Confusion mixed with concern rather. _

"_Lily…Lily is something the matter? I'm-I'm sorry if I-" _

"_No, no it's not that…" she said as she waved a hand away at him. The truth was telling him that she was pregnant honestly terrified her. After all, how was she supposed to know that he was going to be around to help her with the new baby and not just be off with another whore of his? _

_Instability really made her nervous. _

_Seeing the honest concern becoming more and more apparent in his eyes as the minutes dragged on, Lily finally decided against her gut to go ahead and tell him. _

_Sighing she turned fully towards him. She eyed him in a careful manner as she spoke, careful not to make her voice quiver. _

"_James…..I-……….I'm pregnant." _

_It took a few minutes for these words to process in his brain. But when they finally did his expression went from concern to complete elation. He actually had to stop himself from jumping up from the couch to leap into the air. Grinning from ear to ear in all his happiness he couldn't stop himself from grabbing a hold of her in an embrace. _

"_That's- That that's great!" his happiness almost causing him to stumble over his words. _

_Pulling away from the embrace, he suddenly thought of something. _

"_Wait…this is what's been bothering you? But it's such good news." _

_Lily was quick to sting him again with her words. _

"_Yes, this among other things." _

_James was quick to catch on. He dropped his head in a somewhat shameful manner. _

"_Oh yes…of course. Of course that would bother you…."_

_In his shame James recalled the words that Snape had said to him earlier. His eyes started to well with tears but he blinked them away before Lily could see. _

_Curse him! How could he have not seen what it was doing to her? Well no more. No longer would he be the cause of his wife's misery and sadness. _

_Placing his hands gently on her shoulders he looked her in the eye. His eyes held a look of sincerity. _

"_Lily…I promise from this day forward I will be a better husband to you, and when the time comes, a good father to our child. Mark my word things will get better."_

_At his words Lily couldn't help but feel that they were honestly sincere. Who knows, maybe having a child was all that was needed for him to straighten up and be a better person. That's what she hoped for anyway. _

_She then felt herself wrapping her arms gingerly around him in a shaky manner. _

"_You promise?" her voice sounded heavy and hollow as her head rested against his chest. She noticed how it sounded nothing like her. _

"_I promise Lily." he said softly. _

"_I promise." _

_As she sat there wrapped up in his embrace another thought that had been plaguing her about this child just wouldn't leave her alone. This thought however, brought with it thoughts of danger and impending doom. But Lily had tried to brush them off as the product of an overactive mind. One especially that had been overworked by anxiety and nervousness these past weeks. _

_Still……the thought just would not leave her………………………_


End file.
